Traditional and New Deep Soil Tillage Techniques in Italy

A study evaluated the performance of traditional and alternative implements for deep tillage. Three implements were compared: a plow and two PTO driven machines (spading machine and rotary chisel), along with two soil depths, 0.30 and 0.40 m, and two forward speeds. Tests were done on a level plot, containing silty-clay soil. Forward speed, wheel slip, fuel consumption, energy at PTO and drawbar were measured. Clodiness of the tilled soil was evaluated. The two PTO powered implements didn't show advantages in terms of capacity, but they gave better results in fuel consumption and in soil pulverization. Economic evaluation showed lower unit costs (17-28%) for the spading machine